YvonneinLAhttp://yvonneinla.com
YvonneinLAFri, 14 Oct 2016 06:46:51 +0000en-UShourly1https://wordpress.org/?v=4.5.4Eva Longoria Wants You to Vote and so do Ihttp://yvonneinla.com/2016/10/eva-longoria-wants-you-to-vote-and-so-do-i/
http://yvonneinla.com/2016/10/eva-longoria-wants-you-to-vote-and-so-do-i/#respondFri, 14 Oct 2016 06:46:51 +0000http://yvonneinla.com/?p=4228There are 26 days until the presidential election and Eva Longoria and I have an important message to send to... Continue reading »

]]>There are 26 days until the presidential election and Eva Longoria and I have an important message to send to you: vote. This could be the most important election of our lifetime – as women and latinos. So please vote.

I had asked Longoria why it’s so important for Latinas to vote last week at an event at The London in West Hollywood for her bedding line at JCPenney. (You can learn about her line on MomsLA. Her collection was fabulous and she was lovely.) I talked to her only a week ago, but so much has happened. Since our chat last week, horrible accusations have surfaced against Trump, which make it even more urgent that women turn out to vote.

Longoria is a longtime supporter of Hillary Clinton and even gave this moving speech at the Democratic National Convention. My favorite part was, “I’m 9th generation American. My family didn’t cross a border, the border crossed us. So when Donald Trump calls us criminals and rapists, he’s insulting American families.”

]]>http://yvonneinla.com/2016/10/eva-longoria-wants-you-to-vote-and-so-do-i/feed/0Sleepover at the San Diego Zoo for The Wild Life Moviehttp://yvonneinla.com/2016/09/sleepover-at-the-san-diego-zoo-for-the-wildlife-movie/
http://yvonneinla.com/2016/09/sleepover-at-the-san-diego-zoo-for-the-wildlife-movie/#respondFri, 09 Sep 2016 21:25:25 +0000http://yvonneinla.com/?p=4206One thing that has been on my California bucket list since I moved to Los Angeles nearly 11 years ago has finally... Continue reading »

]]>One thing that has been on my California bucket list since I moved to Los Angeles nearly 11 years ago has finally been scratched off; my family and I took the Amtrak train from Los Angeles to San Diego. Why was it on my bucket list? Because you can see the California coast go ambling by without having to be in a car and sit in traffic. We went as guests of Lionsgate for The Wild Life movie. Our adventure included taking the train to San Diego, seeing a screening of the movie and spending the night in the San Diego Zoo – yes in the zoo.

I’ll start with our train adventure. I was freaking out that we’d be late so I made sure that we arrived an hour early. I imagined going through tight security like we did when we were in London and then having to run alongside the train and throwing our luggage and children onto the moving train. Well, there was no security check and we walked on and waited until our on-time departure. The view was pretty great in some spots. This picture was taken near the station in San Clemente.

We had a lovely time on the train, chatting and relaxing – the opposite of a long car ride. We were in business class at the front of the train with families that looked like they were going to a wedding – beautiful dresses and dressed-up children. The back area with the bar looked like it was a lot of fun. People got on the train in Orange County to go the racetrack.

Once we arrived in San Diego, we were shuttled to see The Wild Life movie. It was about Robinson Crusoe and the animals he encounters after he’s marooned on an island. The Wild Life opens in theaters today.

His new companions include a macaw, Mak, and a Tapir named Rosie. After seeing the movie, we went to the zoo to see some of the animals that are featured in the animated film like the macaw below.

And this tortoise.

After a few more private viewings it was time to have dinner at the zoo campground and see our home for the night.

The zoo provided tents and bed rolls and we brought sleeping bags and pillows. Dinner was buffet style and very good. I was happy to have discovered a new cupcake – a cookie-cupcake.

After dinner, we were treated to activities that included a nighttime scavenger hunt around the zoo after it was closed. My family was very into it and not just because we felt like we were alone with the animals in the zoo – the scavenger hunt itself was fun. We learned a lot about the animals that we might not have just walking around during the day.

The best part of camping is always the campfire. We roasted s’mores and learned interesting animal facts. My boys even tried roasted bugs.

The next day, we met more animals including Taraji the cheetah and then headed back to the train for our journey home. It was a great 24 hours that my kids will remember for a years (and ask to recreate, I’m sure).

To learn more about The Wild Life, watch the trailer below.

Disclosure: I was a guest of Lionsgate and was provided transportation, food and lodging for this experience.

]]>http://yvonneinla.com/2016/09/sleepover-at-the-san-diego-zoo-for-the-wildlife-movie/feed/0Instagram and Mom.mehttp://yvonneinla.com/2016/04/instagram-and-mom-me/
http://yvonneinla.com/2016/04/instagram-and-mom-me/#respondWed, 20 Apr 2016 21:24:24 +0000http://yvonneinla.com/?p=4179I’m not an Instagram star. I don’t have tens of thousands of followers and I don’t make a million dollars... Continue reading »

]]>I’m not an Instagram star. I don’t have tens of thousands of followers and I don’t make a million dollars posting photos on the app. But I love it so much. I love taking pictures and documenting our life in Los Angeles. I love seeing what other people are doing, where they are going, what they’re eating and how they express themselves. After all of these years of plugging away and not knowing if anyone was watching, I got an email from Mom.me. I was chosen as one of the Top 25 Maker Moms on Instagram!

They featured this photo in the post:

It was taken at the Wisdom Tree during my birthday hike in Griffith Park. We also hiked to the Hollywood Sign and Cahuenga Peak that day. I was happy they picked that picture because it captures what I try to do with my Instagram feed, which is to share the beautiful and the interesting in Los Angeles and on my travels. Here are a few of my favorite photos from the past few months.

This was taken during Spring Break at Arroyo Burro Dog Park near Santa Barbara. It’s one of the photos that I hashtag #Viewfrommyrun.

The picture above was posted with a quote – “I see my path, but I don’t kow where it leads. Not knowing where I’m going is what inspires me to travel.” Rosalia de Castro. I took it while on a trip to Canada with Ford.

There are a lot of pictures of my family in my feed. I love this one we took at Disneyland.

Thanks to Mom.me for including me in this group of talented Maker Moms!

]]>http://yvonneinla.com/2016/04/instagram-and-mom-me/feed/0The White Mexicanhttp://yvonneinla.com/2016/03/the-white-mexican/
http://yvonneinla.com/2016/03/the-white-mexican/#respondTue, 15 Mar 2016 14:28:06 +0000http://yvonneinla.com/?p=4173This is the full version of the story I told at the #WeAllGrow Summit 2016. To watch the video, visit... Continue reading »

]]>This is the full version of the story I told at the #WeAllGrow Summit 2016. To watch the video, visit MomsLA.com.

One day my son came home with a mask he’d made in art class at elementary school. It was for indigenous people’s day. He put it on and said, “Look at me. I’m a Mexican.”

I looked at my blonde haired, blue-eyed son and said, “Sweetie, you don’t have to wear a mask to be Mexican. You’re a Mexican all the time.”

And you may not know it by looking at me, but I too am Mexican. My name is Yvonne Condes de la Torre but I was raised Yvonne Condes. I’m Mexican American, but no one ever knows it unless I somehow slip it into the conversation. Because I’m not just a white Mexican, but I’m often the whitest person in a room full of white people.

My son coming home with the mask reminded me of a time when my mom told a story about the family that lived in the house behind us. She referred to them as the Black family. “You can’t talk about them that way,” I told her. “They have names just like the Jewish family and the Single Mom.”

“You don’t think everyone calls us the Mexicans?” She asked. Up until then I hadn’t thought about it. Even though there were plenty of Mexicans in town and plenty of Mexicans that came to our house, we were the only ones on our street.

I realized that other people saw us differently. And that we might not be like everybody else. I didn’t know it then, but that’s how it would be most of my life. I was something different. And anyone looking at me, might not know what that is.

One of the things I love about this community is that years ago when I started blogging, I found a badge that I could put on my site that said “Blogs by Latinas.” Finally there was an answer to the question that has plagued me all of the years: What are you?

And I’ve asked myself that question. What am I? Who am I? And more importantly right now, what are my kids and who will they become?

My parents had a hard time growing up, my mom didn’t speak English when she first came to the Southwest and the kids and teachers were terrible to her. By the time she and my dad moved from the border town where they grew up to Tucson, she, like many Latinos of her generation wanted us to assimilate.

And assimilate we did. To my great shame, I don’t speak Spanish. I don’t even speak very good Spanglish.

So when my older son said, “hey, look at me. I’m a Mexican.” It really struck me. What will that mean to him later on that he’s Mexican. Will it mean anything to him? That he’s a super white half Mexican whose mother doesn’t speak Spanish.

Since that day I’ve tried to infuse as much of my culture into their lives as possible. I take my boys to festivals, we listen to latin music, we watch documentaries, we’ve marched in protests, and I’ve enrolled them in Spanish classes.

I’m actually trying to make them the Latino kids that I wasn’t growing up and I’m not always successful. My younger son has always hated having to go to after-school Spanish class. Last year he would stop any mom he knew and try to convince them that I had scheduled a play date with their child so he could get out of it. He made me a little miserable about it. But even though he didn’t like it, some of what he’s learned did stick.

And I’m exposing them to the language and culture because as most mothers feel about their children, I want everything to be great for them. Because I don’t want them to feel like they’re missing something.

Like I do when I go to a Crossfit class and I see this group of Latinas that hang out together and talk to each other in Spanish. They’re so badass and I want to join in on their conversation and say Hey, Look at Me, I’m Mexican, too. But I realize that would be weird.

Because I’ve often felt like I don’t fit in with other Latinas, like I sometimes do at events like these.

And I don’t want my kids to to ever feel like that, like they’re not Latino Enough. Because I have definitely felt that way and I know I’m not alone.

There are memes and youtube videos and blog posts and tweets dedicated to the feeling that some of us are not Latino enough. That because we were raised differently or we live differently that we’re not quite Latino.

But I don’t believe that at all.

As the years have gone by and my kids have gotten older and I’ve gotten older, I’ve come to realize that all of our experiences are unique and meaningful. My life might be vastly different than the badass ladies from Crossfit, but being super white with no ear for language doesn’t mean that I’m not really Latino.

I know that someday my kids will look back and talk about their crazy Latina mom, who yelled too much, who made them take classes they didn’t want to take and eat a lot of Mexican food. But I hope that whatever they say about me, the say it lovingly and I hope they say it in Spanish.

]]>http://yvonneinla.com/2016/03/the-white-mexican/feed/0National Parks Adventure Reviewhttp://yvonneinla.com/2016/02/national-parks-adventure-review/
http://yvonneinla.com/2016/02/national-parks-adventure-review/#respondMon, 08 Feb 2016 06:57:08 +0000http://yvonneinla.com/?p=4155As a family, we love the National Parks. We try to visit one every year to hike, camp and explore.... Continue reading »

]]>As a family, we love the National Parks. We try to visit one every year to hike, camp and explore. I feel like we just went on a National Parks vacation after seeing National Parks Adventure 3D at the IMAX in the California Science Center. It was spectacular.

National Parks Adventure took us on a road trip with legendary climber Conrad Anker, his stepson Max Lowe (son of Alex Lowe, who died in an avalanche in 1999), and their friend, artist Rachel Pohl. They not only went to breathtaking locations, but did some incredible climbs, mountain bike rides, and all-around adventuring.

The scene below was one of many that took my breath away. Anker and Pohl climbed Devils Tower National Monument. It goes straight up and looked ridiculously challenging to climb.

What I especially loved were scenes from locations I had never heard of, but now am dying to visit. The group was hoping to see snow in Yosemite, but when the weather didn’t cooperate, they headed to Michigan to ice climb at Pictured Rocks National Lakeshore. It was stunning. The way it was filmed, it felt like I was there and I could reach out and touch the ice.

It’s not just incredible to look at, there is also a lot to learn about nature and the parks. The film is narrated by Robert Redford and talks about how Theodore Roosevelt came to love the outdoors and created the national parks.

]]>The call from the doctor was short but devastating: “We think you have cancer, we just can’t find it.” My soon-to-be husband was getting sicker and sicker and no one could figure out the cause.

Months passed and he continued to lose weight, becoming weaker and more anemic. Finally, a simple test revealed that he had Celiac Disease, an autoimmune disorder where gluten attacks the lining of the stomach. It would soon be discovered that the thing that was so hard to diagnose was the simplest to treat: Eliminate gluten – a protein found in wheat, barley, and rye – and you’ll get better.

The idea was simple, but this was 14-years-ago and there were so few gluten free products on the market that finding something to eat was difficult. Crackers tasted like cardboard, cookies crumbled, and it was almost impossible to find cereal or bread.

I’m Mexican American and my way of solving problems and making people happy is to feed them. After my husband was diagnosed, I bought up all the flour I could find that had no gluten and started experimenting with recipes. (This also works well now that I have 2 boys who are very picky eaters). The first dessert I ever made was a gluten free raspberry cheesecake with those crumbly cookies soaked in butter as the crust. It was delicious, but didn’t taste quite right. I tried a few more versions until it was perfect then started making cookies, cakes, pies, and bread.

Baking became my favorite hobby and after having kids I even made it into a business (short lived) and incorporated gluten free living into my blogs. One thing that has been amazing is to see the many tasty and great quality products that have come on the market since I sat at my booth at the Farmers’ Market explaining what it means to be gluten free.

Now, even products that have been around for years are becoming gluten free including one of our favorites. Cheerios – Yellow Box, Honey Nut, Apple Cinnamon, Frosted, and Multigrain – are now gluten free. We’ve had the Honey Nut and Yellow Box Cheerios and they taste just as good always. They were mostly gluten free before. General Mills simply used a new process to remove stray wheat, barley, and rye from the oats (there’s no gluten in oats, FYI). They’ve also added sorghum and millet to Multigrain Cheerios, which are gluten free.

We have such an active lifestyle in our family that it’s important that we have products we can trust. There have been times when there’s just nothing for my husband to eat. He has another autoimmune disease so not eating or risking gluten contamination isn’t an option. When we’re out hiking for hours or just out of town, it’s good to know there’s food that’s safe to eat. And also food that you grew up with, want to eat, and that’s easily found in a grocery store.

So much has changed since that call from the doctor. And short of a cure, it’s great to know that companies are seeing the value in offering good quality, flavorful gluten free food.

This sponsored post also appeared on MomsLA. My story was also included in a mailer called Gluten Free Cheerios Matter to Us that came with a personalized box of Gluten Free Cheerios.

]]>http://yvonneinla.com/2015/09/why-gluten-free-cheerios-matter-to-me/feed/1Kamloops, Revelstoke, and Banff National Park #ExploreMorehttp://yvonneinla.com/2015/09/kamloops-revelstoke-and-banff-national-park-exploremore/
http://yvonneinla.com/2015/09/kamloops-revelstoke-and-banff-national-park-exploremore/#respondSat, 12 Sep 2015 17:14:54 +0000http://yvonneinla.com/?p=4114Many years ago when I was still in college, I spent a summer working in Alaska. I had managed to... Continue reading »

]]>Many years ago when I was still in college, I spent a summer working in Alaska. I had managed to get myself there, but I had no way to get home. I was lucky enough to find a ride back to the lower 48, which meant driving from Denali National Park through Canada and to Boise, Idaho and then to Berkeley, California where my sister lived. When we drove through Banff National Park in Alberta, Canada I thought to myself, “This is the most beautiful place I’ve ever seen and I must come back.” It took 20 years, but I finally did.

Thanks to Ford and the #ExploreMore media tour, I was able to drive the 2016 Ford Explorer from through Canada Kamloops, British Columbia to Revelstoke, Banff, and Calgary, Alberta. It was beautiful and so much fun. I reviewed the car on MomsLA (spoiler: the Explorer Platinum is a damn nice SUV) , but I wanted to share more pictures and more details about the trip here.

First I flew from Los Angeles to Vancouver and then Vancouver to the small town of Kamloops.

Kamloops was a cute little city with a tiny airport. I had a little bit of time to walk around the park and see the town.

The next morning we all set out in our Ford Explorers to drive to Revelstoke. Along the way, my driving partner and I stopped to see waterfalls along the way, including this one at Crazy Creek Falls.

We stopped at Mara Lake for a snack.

Then we arrived at the Sutton Place Hotel in Revelstoke. We took gondolas to get to our dinner spot and the view was spectacular.

The next day we took the long drive to get to Banff. We stopped at Takakkaw Falls in Yoho National Park.

Lake Moraine (below and also pictured at very top) in Banff National park was gorgeous. There was a rock pile to climb to get the top view of the lake (there’s also a trail from the visitor center).

By the time we got to Lake Louise it was overcast, but we could see the glacier. We decided to canoe to get closer to the glacier, but the weather is unpredictable and by the time we started paddling in the canoe, it rained on us. It was cold, but still fun to be in the water and beautiful to see.

The views in Banff were stunning in every direction.

We ended the day in the town of Banff, a cute little spot with cool looking buildings, shops, and restaurants.

It was a beautiful drive and one I hope to do again with my family. To learn more about the #ExploreMore trip or the Ford Explorer, visit MomsLA.

]]>http://yvonneinla.com/2015/09/kamloops-revelstoke-and-banff-national-park-exploremore/feed/0KCRW Sound in Focus and CicLAviahttp://yvonneinla.com/2015/08/kcrw-sound-in-focus-and-ciclavia/
http://yvonneinla.com/2015/08/kcrw-sound-in-focus-and-ciclavia/#respondMon, 10 Aug 2015 04:56:55 +0000http://yvonneinla.com/?p=4097One of the best things about living in Los Angeles is all of the free events happening around town throughout... Continue reading »

]]>One of the best things about living in Los Angeles is all of the free events happening around town throughout the year. This weekend, we took advantage of two of them.

On Saturday, my husband and I got a babysitter and went to KCRW’s outdoor summer concert series, Sound in Focus. Dwight Yoakum was the headliner and X was the opening band. It was a beautiful night and Dwight Yoakum was great – I love me some country music and no one does it better (except Willie of course).

It was in Century City park, which is the center of an office plaza that also houses the Annenberg Space for Photography. We not only saw a concert, but toured the gallery’s latest exhibit “Emerging.” It featured emerging photographers and it was unbelievably good, especially the video about the young photographers.

On Sunday, the entire family and friends went out to CicLAvia. CicLAvia is an occasional outdoor festival where the streets are blocked off for bike riders, rollerbladers, jog strollers – anything on wheels that isn’t a car – and pedestrians. It was a fantastic day filled with bikers, food trucks, farmers markets, and happy people. We had an excellent time riding from downtown Culver City to Venice Beach.

In the last episode, (which was episode 25!), we talk about a comment I made on She Podcasts. She Podcasts is usually about the business and art of podcasting, but in the episode “Go Big or Go Home” the conversation turned to parenting and the choices we make for our kids.

We also talk about “Ant-Man,” “Trainwreck,” and my visit to a naked spa even though I’m a “never nude.” Plus we have another installment of “Don’t Be That Mom.”